The party settles back into Heremac. Friar Sidrach spends a couple of weeks studying intently with his Gerardian superior, Friar Brut.

St. James and Valerius visit Tim in the Thistle and Briar. Tim suggests that the secret enemy at Deal was just a small fry in a much larger pond, and hints that His Lordship has some powerful friends among the nobility and the clergy. Finally, Tim suggests that Godwin might not really be the man the party was looking for—but that if the party finds Godwin, the real power would be nearby. At the Boar Valerius and St. James meet a young, hooded, well-mannered man who introduces himself as Coric. Coric joins Clement and St. James in a game of knucklebones, and even Valerius joins in the frivolity. Valerius commissions Coric to take a message to one Andrew Penney, a mysterious figure rumored to have occult intelligences. Coric arranges a meeting for the next day at the Boar.

Andrew Penney arrives, a thin, disheveled man who seems, strangely enough, to know who everyone is and what everyone wants. He seems to know about Valerius's "Perian Orb" and suggests that it is probably beyond any hope of resurrection. He also suggests that he could probably provide important information on Mendelor's stolen shield. Valerius misplaces a shilling and strangely, the destitute St. James gains one. St. James tails Coric, and observes the hooded man pick the pockets of some drunks.